


I Need You At Night

by AnxiousAndAfraid



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Hateno, Hurt/Comfort, Oneshot, Post BotW, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Selectively Mute Link (Legend of Zelda), Zelda - Freeform, idk how to tag, link - Freeform, very fluff, very short story, zelink
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-30
Updated: 2020-12-30
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:28:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28425495
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnxiousAndAfraid/pseuds/AnxiousAndAfraid
Summary: Her smile rivaled the sun. Lying amongst the wheat she was one with the earth. With Hylia. She was the soil and the grain as much as she was the wind and the sky, happiness and hope, expectation and reality. She was all. All but one thing.It tunneled its way through the garden. Followed the song of unbridled joy until it loomed above her like predator on prey."There's a flower hidden near. Might you find it?"-Post-BotW Oneshot
Relationships: Link/Zelda (Legend of Zelda)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 64





	I Need You At Night

A radiant field of yellow painted the hills like patchwork against the tall grasses. Warm and elegant in the summer breeze, the landscape breathed with a life full of picnics and hijinks, jumping crickets, and intimate strolls. It was a garden of joy. A field of plenty. And it placated the hunger of those who came seeking its bounty. 

For one, it was a place of hope. Of solace and joy. Golden hair shimmering in the morning light, camouflaged within the labyrinth of ribbed grain, they tumbled together as one. Dancing to the symphony of laughter as she disturbed the stalks they called their legs. But it was all in good fun. 

Her smile rivaled the sun. Lying amongst the wheat she was one with the earth. With Hylia. She was the soil and the grain as much as she was the wind and the sky, happiness and hope, expectation and reality. She was all. All but one thing. 

It tunneled its way through the garden. Followed the song of unbridled joy until it loomed above her like predator on prey. 

"There's a flower hidden near. Might you find it?" She spoke as a calm ocean. "As blue as your eyes and white as your soul." 

He smiled and vanished. Gone like a whisper in the wind. But he was never truly out of reach. She could feel his movements along the ground like calloused hands stroking her skin. It caressed her with familiarity. With affection. 

Through closed eyes she could see his progress. Scouring through the stalks, he quickly made his way to the center of the maze towards the prize. She knew he would find it. Knew he would never fail her. 

Her body lifted heavily from the earth, pulling the roots of her arms from the heated ground to watch the champion claim her gift. It was plucked unceremoniously from the rich soil between gentle but eager fingers. Turning to face her with a smile, he held it out to her; an offering of faith and servitude. But as green expected to meet blue across the horizon, the air turned thick and sappy, dulling by the second to illuminate empty eyes. Red seeped from his mouth, staining his teeth and permeating the air with the acrid scent of copper. 

It was consuming: the paint of pain and mourning. But no sound could be heard as it ate him alive. He was bathed before her eyes in a flood of crimson that screamed down from the sky.

It was raining blood. 

*****

Zelda woke with a start. Drenched in sweat and panting, her hands moved rapidly below the sheets seeking an anchor. But as the musky smell of wood and grass hit her nostrils the shape of well-worn furniture formed before her. Her small frame was twisted in a knot of blue sheets in a bed just large enough for two. A small nightstand was within arms reach holding a clear vase with a weeping flower. 

_Hateno…_

A weak hand reached towards one of the wilting petals. She felt her heart plummet as the waxy flora fell into pieces at her touch. Fragile and fragmented, it was like looking into a mirror. 

The only sound that echoed in the drafty home was the padding of bare skin on cold wood. Comforter wrapped tightly around her shoulders, she made her way downstairs and looked around the space passively. This was not unfamiliar territory. She had memorized these walls long ago. Turning towards a spot by the door, something was out of place.

Or rather, something was _still_ out of place…

Zelda curled her fingers around an empty wooden knob jutting forth from the wall. It was polished and new, glossy and only slightly scratched from lack of use. Closing her eyes, she let out a small gasp as the memory assaulted her. 

It happened two weeks ago. Humid night air had clawed at her limbs sprawled out over the sheets. Hot and uncomfortable, she tried not to fidget as her second half breathed evenly in the crook of her neck. Despite the heat he held her in a tender embrace. Arms wrapped around her middle, he cradled her posessively and trapped one of her legs between his own. 

He had been so good. Had managed through long nights with only minor incidents. But their curse came in waves. She remembered the way his hands shook. They clawed and grasped at her stomach desperately as his breathing became hitched and shallow. His heart was a racehorse as the nightmare crescendoed. 

Wails of pain reached her ears before any other sense could process the event. She didn’t remember him moving. Didn’t remember the moment that shook him awake. Didn’t see him grab the hilt of his sword and brandish the weapon before her. 

She could only remember her fear. 

“LINK! PLEASE! I’m fine! I’m right here! _Please,_ let go of the sword!”

Clawing at his grip frantically, she had tried to pry his fingers from the weapon. Tried to convince him that the terrors of his memories were over. That his subconscious was a trickster deadset on triggering survival instincts that were no longer needed. But she spoke to glossy eyes that could not see truth. 

She had worked tirelessly for ten minutes before moving her hands to cradle his jaw and force his face onto hers. 

“I’m right here. I’m alive. I’m right here. Please see me.”

Link’s body shook with adrenaline as he watched her lips move. Slowly processing dream from reality, he let her coax him back to the real world, away from calamity, back to their small house in Hateno village. He had to remember she was alive. Remember she wasn’t a hallucination. That she wasn’t still trapped in a chrysalis of blight enduring a century’s worth of torture.

He had broken down in her arms. Sword clattering to the floor, he had looked so vulnerable weeping freely as deadweight in her lap. It was a side of him she had the honor and misfortune of witnessing. _We’ll work through this burden together._ Guilt and shame choked him as he apologized profusely. But there wasn’t really anything to be sorry about. 

They took turns: Waking up in sudden cold sweats seeing visions of devastation in the darkness. It had been a frequent occurrence since the sealing of calamity. Haunted by the horrors of their journeys, they found solace most in the comfort of each other. Though things had gotten better with time, the refusal to relinquish his weapon had led to a new rule: 

“The sword stays downstairs.”

He seemed conflicted but did not resist. The knob went up the next day. 

She removed her hand from the empty post. Glancing towards the window, the moon still loomed high in the sky. _“Only a few days”_ he had told her. But a few days felt like years.

Opening the front door, Zelda let her feet sink into the cold grass in front of their home. Watching the fireflies dance and twirl, she let hope bubble in her stomach that she would suddenly see him phase back to the shrine just past the ravine. The blue wisps of sheika tech would be easy to spot against the night sky. But the sky remained black and vacant.

She waited until her toes turned to ice. Until her nose was numb and her heart was heavy. _“Only a few days…”_ It sung in her head like a prayer. _"_ _I’ll be back before you know it.”_

Reluctant but cold, she returned to bed and cocooned herself beneath the covers. She didn’t want to sleep. _He’ll be disappointed if I don’t._ But she didn’t want to watch him die. _He could be hurt out there and I wouldn’t even know._ But he is strong. _If calamity couldn’t claim him, what could?_

Her new slumber was light and dreamless. She needed him here. Needed her anchor. Fighting the anxieties eating away at her mind was easier when she had his body to hold, his breathing to see, his heartbeat to feel…

*****

A light pressure in the center of her forehead lifted Zelda out of a restless sleep. Nuzzling deeper into the pillow, she released a small groan and screwed her eyes shut against the yellow light assaulting her through closed eyelids. But as quickly as her body began to relax she felt something warm and rough tickle her cheekbone. 

Eyes fluttering open, she peered into an ocean of blue and found herself quickly taken up by the tides. She had to blink repeatedly to ensure this wasn’t just another dream. A stray tear fell down her face only to be scrubbed away by the calloused thumb that cradled her. It made her heart stammer in her chest.

“You’re home…”

Link looked down on her with a delicate smile. Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, he pulled back briefly to shuck his tunic on a nearby chair. He smelt like grass and smoke as he slid between the sheets to meet her. 

Small fingers twisted into the cotton of his undershirt to pull him closer. "Is it still early?" Her voice was barely a whisper but she felt him nod into the crook of her neck. A contented sigh escaped her lips as he fit to her like a puzzle piece. 

"Good. I missed you."

His hand moved lazily above his head signing something about it "only being a couple days" but she was too preoccupied threading her fingers through his hair to notice. Besides, she knew he had missed her too. A hundred years apart had set a protective need into their bones. Personal space was one thing, but being on the other side of the continent from each other was another. 

As if to further her point, he carefully snaked his arms around her lower back to hug their bodies impossibly closer. His grip was tight but not uncomfortable, much like the embraces they shared when these sleeping arrangements first began. These were some of her favorite moments. The ones where they knew without a doubt that the other was alive.

She savored the sensation: fingers combing through dirty hair, his warm breath fanning out across her collarbone, the smell of the forest that always seemed to linger on his skin… It kept her rooted to the ground. Kept the corporeal dysphoria at bay.

Zelda spoke up again just as Link’s breathing began to even out. "Did you sleep at all?" She smoothed a hand across his cheek and pulled back just enough to watch his expression. 

His eyes blinked open with a languid reluctance. It was a stupid question. One she obviously knew the answer to. But it didn't hurt to ask. If anything, it gave her an excuse to watch him live and breath in her arms.

He shook his head. Lightly jostling the hand on his cheek, he reached up to hold it to his skin before she could pull it away. "Did you?"

His voice was quiet and raspy. A single leaf stolen off of a tree by the wind. She caught it with a tender smile. 

"I tried."

"Hmm." 

The low hum vibrated from his throat as he nuzzled his way back into his spot beneath her chin. Arm returning to her lower back, he pressed a small kiss into the crook of her neck before mumbling, "I think you should try again."

She bit her lip to stifle a laugh. Smiling, she dipped her nose into his unruly hair and smelled a lifetime of adventure. Of nights stolen on the balcony of her study. Of strolls through raw Hylian rice in salty, humid air. Musky campfires and warm embraces in the mountain snow. Sunburns and hydromelons in the desert sand. 

An everlasting embrace in the ruins of Hyrule field, being kept tangible once more by desperate arms and the smell of charred flesh. 

"I think you’re right," Zelda breathed out as the memories washed over her like waves. Let them wax and wane like the cycles of the moon. Content, her eyes found the vase on the weathered nightstand. A proud new flower smiled down on them with its brilliant white teeth and delicate blue tongues.

"I'll try again."

**Author's Note:**

> Last week ended up being incredibly busy for me. I started typing this up on my phone when I had moments of downtime. I originally wasn't sure if I was going to post this at all, but you've all been so kind reading my other fic that I thought this might be a nice little "thank you." :) Better to post something than nothing! (I have a bad habit of drawing/writing stuff and then tucking it away forever...whoops)
> 
> Just a little bit of angst and a little bit of fluff <3 ...Because I'm a sap for these two being domestic and I can't imagine the events of calamity being something easy to cope with.


End file.
